Compassion

By definition compassion means sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

I have had so many people say, "I don't understand why I had a hard time conceiving a child, losing someone I loved in an untimely manner, losing my job or their spouse walking away. People face tragedies of every kind every day. Kids are bullied and treated unfairly, tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis come and go. The list of pain and suffering goes on and on and on. If you watch the news each day you will observe a murder, a car accident or a drowning, each have a victim who has endured pain or death. What is the purpose in all of is, many ask???? The truth is many of us will never know. However, II Corinthians, Chapter 2 talks specifically about pain and suffering!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. If we have never gone through trials and tribulations and our life has been smooth sailing it is harder to identify with those that have. That is not saying that you have to experience suffering to feel compassion. Some people are gifted with the ability to comfort others without thinking about it. However, if we have walked in similar shoes to one who is experiencing what we have experienced, comfort comes easily. I guess this is one benefit you could say to having endured suffering. We are able to comfort others with the comfort that we have received from God!!!!

Who do you see through your perspective that needs compassion? Is it the homeless person on the corner asking for food? Is it the elderly person drinking their coffee alone? Is it the family that you see in the magazine who is standing in front of the shambles of their home? Is it the man next door who is fighting cancer? Is it the single mom who receives no break from the stress of raising children, working full-time just making ends meet? Is it the friend who is torn between two parents, spending one week at one and the other at the other parent's house? Is it your friends who have just sent their child away to college? Is it a family who has a chronically sick child?

What spurs your heart to a concern for others? Do you see those in need around you? Do you see the friend who is always depressed and no one asks why? Do you see the tear in the eye of the person who feels alone? When you feel that tug on your heart, are you compelled to do something? Don't miss the opportunity to meet the need of someone who needs you!